Benefit Combinations: Official Statistics to August 2023
Published 13 February 2024
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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A person in Great Britain may be eligible to claim several benefits, administered by or on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, at the same time. The Benefit Combination statistics offer a picture of the number of individuals claiming at least one benefit as well as the number of claimants for each combination of benefits, as at the end of each quarter, for the period February 2013 to August 2023. Figures are presented separately for England and Wales and for Scotland due to the devolution of certain benefits to the Scottish Government. For detailed commentary on individual benefits see the latest DWP benefits statistics.
The Benefit Combination statistics cover:
- Attendance Allowance (AA)
- Bereavement Benefit (BB)
- Bereavement Support Payment (BSP)
- Carer’s Allowance (CA)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for both adults and children
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Housing Benefit (HB)
- Incapacity Benefit (IB)
- Income Support (IS)
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Pension Credit (PC)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
- State Pension (SP)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Widow’s Benefit (WB)
Development work completed in February 2024 means that, for the period May 2019 – August 2023, these statistics also contain the following additional details:
- ESA payment type
- ESA phase of claim
- PIP, DLA & AA daily living award
- PIP, DLA & AA mobility award
- UC conditionality regime
- UC health journey
Within the statistics, certain benefits are grouped together, where more than one benefit could be claimed to meet a particular need. The groupings used are:
- INCAP, which comprises ESA, IB and SDA (and IS where IB is claimed at the same time), to help with living costs if a claimant is unable to work due to a disability or health condition
- PIP/DLA (including AA for those over State Pension Age) for help with some of the extra costs caused by long-term disability, ill-health or terminal ill-health
Please note that for consistency, all of the figures in the Benefit Combinations release are aligned to a common time point: August 2023. More up-to-date figures have been published for:
1. Total benefit claimants
This release is impacted by the suspension of State Pension Statistics which were also scheduled to be released on Tuesday 13 February 2024. This delay results from issues with internal processing of State Pension data after it was sent for analysis from the Get Your State Pension (GYSP) system, and only impacts statistics that are not yet published. As a result, statistics for State Pension Age claimants are not included as part of this Benefit Combinations release. Overall caseload totals are not comparable to previous quarters, as data for claimants of State Pension Age are suspended.
Work is underway to remediate these issues, and the Benefit Combinations statistics will be re-issued when the full State Pension dataset is available. For more information, please see the State Pension statistics.
Excluding claimants of State Pension Age, 9.9 million people claimed some combination of DWP benefits in August 2023 (of the 17 benefits included in these statistics). Of these:
- 9.3 million were of Working Age
- 660,000 were under 16 (and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance as a child)
In England and Wales, excluding State Pension Age claimants, there were 9.1 million people (this includes unknown and abroad cases):
- 8.5 million were of Working Age, 35% of whom were claiming more than one benefit
- 660,000 were under the age of 16 (and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance as a child)
In Scotland, excluding State Pension Age claimants, there were 780,000 people:
- 780,000 were of Working Age, 38% of whom were claiming more than one benefit
- 200 were under the age of 16 (and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance as a child) - this figure is low because Social Security Scotland has now completed the transfer process for over 99% of children and young people who were in receipt of Disability Living Allowance for children in Scotland on to Child Disability Payment (CDP) – for more details see Section 4 of this release
2. Working Age combinations in England and Wales
DWP Benefit Combinations, Working Age, August 2023
This illustration uses overlapping circles, where larger circles and overlaps show more people claiming a particular combination of benefits. It is included to demonstrate the complexity of the situation for many claimants. Only the most common combinations are shown and other combinations do occur. It is not always possible for the areas to be exactly proportional to the number of cases for each combination.
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
The most common benefit or combination of benefits claimed by Working Age (WA) individuals in England and Wales is Universal Credit (UC) on its own. Of all WA claimants in August 2023:
- 47% claimed UC and no other benefit
- 18% claimed UC in combination with some other benefit(s)
WA individuals may claim PIP or DLA if they need help with some of the extra costs caused by long-term disability, ill-health or when approaching the end of life due to a progressive disease. Of all WA claimants in August 2023:
- 8% claimed PIP or DLA and no other benefit
- 25% claimed PIP or DLA in combination with some other benefit(s)
WA individuals may claim Carer’s Allowance if they spend at least 35 hours per week caring for somebody and meet the required eligibility criteria. Of all WA claimants in August 2023:
- 4% claimed Carer’s Allowance and no other benefit
- 8% claimed Carer’s Allowance in combination with some other benefit(s)
The combinations of benefit that people claim are varied. Nearly one in five WA claimants (17% in August 2023) claim some combination other than the top 10 most common possibilities. This can include benefits that appear in the top 10, but in combination with other benefits at the same time. For example, somebody claiming INCAP on its own falls into the 11th most common combination (2% of all WA claimants in August 2023) whilst somebody claiming INCAP, PIP/DLA and Housing Benefit would be in the 6th most common combination (6% of all WA claimants in August 2023).
Top 10 Working Age benefit combinations, England and Wales, August 2023
| Benefits Claimed | Thousands | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| UC In Work only | 1,800 | 21% |
| UC Out of Work only | 1,400 | 17% |
| UC No Work Requirements only | 780 | 9% |
| PIP/DLA only | 660 | 8% |
| UC No Work Requirements and PIP/DLA | 590 | 7% |
| INCAP, PIP/DLA and Housing Benefit | 510 | 6% |
| INCAP and PIP/DLA | 430 | 5% |
| UC No Work Requirements and Carer’s Allowance | 310 | 4% |
| Carer’s Allowance only | 310 | 4% |
| Housing Benefit only | 250 | 3% |
| Any other combination | 1,400 | 17% |
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
Further combinations of benefits, and breakdowns by age, gender, geography, and individual benefits are available from Stat-Xplore.
Working Age DWP Benefit Claimants, England and Wales, February 2013 to August 2023
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
Since the introduction of Universal Credit in 2013 the picture of who claims which combination of benefits has been gradually changing, with more people claiming UC and fewer people claiming other benefits. In particular, there have been reductions in the numbers claiming JSA and the other “Out of Work” legacy benefits which comprise ESA, IB, SDA, IS (where CA not also in payment) or PC (where CA not also in payment), as well as reductions in HB. Trends in Out of Work benefit claimants are explored in more detail in section 5 of this release.
The economic disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused UC claims to double, with 2.7 million claiming UC in February 2020, and 5.4 million in February 2021. This then gradually decreased to 5.1 million by February 2022, before rising again to 5.5 million by August 2023. The remainder of the WA benefit claiming population reduced by 26% from 4.0 million (February 2020) to 3.0 million (August 2023), in part because some people on other benefits but not claiming UC in February 2020 have started new UC claims by August 2023.
Working Age Claimants of Incapacity or Disability Benefits, England and Wales, August 2023
This illustration uses overlapping circles, where larger circles and overlaps show more people claiming a particular combination of benefits. It is included to demonstrate the complexity of the situation for many claimants. Only the most common combinations are shown and other combinations do occur. It is not always possible for the areas to be exactly proportional to the number of cases for each combination.
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
3.9 million people in England and Wales claimed an incapacity or disability benefit in August 2023, an increase of 9% from August 2022. This benefit grouping comprises PIP/DLA, INCAP, and those on the UC health journey:
- PIP/DLA are claimed to help with some of the extra costs caused by long-term disability, ill-health or where approaching the end of life due to a progressive disease
- INCAP benefits comprise ESA, IB and SDA (and IS where IB is claimed at the same time) and are claimed to help with living costs if a claimant is unable to work due to a disability or health condition
- Those claiming UC and reporting that they have a mental/physical health condition or a disability which prevents, or limits, their ability to work are placed on the UC health journey
UC and INCAP have varying eligibility criteria including household income and savings levels, and are claimed by individuals on a low income to support living costs. Those claiming PIP/DLA may be able to work or may have other means of financial support, and as such may not require or be eligible for UC or INCAP. Those claiming UC or INCAP may not meet the specific eligibility criteria for PIP/DLA depending on their daily living or mobility needs or if their condition is not long term.
- 1.8 million people claim both PIP/DLA and INCAP or UC on Health Journey
- 1.1 million people claim INCAP or UC on Health Journey but not PIP/DLA
- 950,000 people claim PIP/DLA but not INCAP or UC on Health Journey. Of these 18% do claim UC but are not categorised as on the UC health journey
1.4 million people claimed one of the benefits categorised as INCAP but of these, 99% claim ESA. Those claiming ESA have their ability to work assessed to determine their entitlement via an ESA Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Claimants may be placed in Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) for those able to undertake and participate in work-related activity to help them move towards the labour market, or Support Group (where claimants are not required to undertake any interviews or work related activity). Of people claiming ESA in August 2023:
- who also claim PIP/DLA, 89% are in Support Group, 7% are in WRAG, and 1% are awaiting their WCA
- who do not claim PIP/DLA, 67% are in Support Group, 18% are in WRAG, and 9% are awaiting their WCA
Those claiming UC on the UC health journey may be referred for a UC WCA. This is used to find out how much a claimant’s health condition or disability affects their ability to work. Of people on the UC health journey in August 2023:
- who also claim PIP/DLA, 83% have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, 11% have Limited Capability for Work, and 6% are awaiting their WCA
- who do not claim PIP/DLA, 53% have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity, 26% have Limited Capability for Work, and 21% are awaiting their WCA
PIP/DLA claimants receive varying levels of support for their daily living and mobility needs. Those receiving the highest level of support have enhanced levels for both daily living and mobility awards. Of the 2.8 million Working Age people claiming PIP/DLA in August 2023:
- 38% of those also claiming INCAP or UC Health receive the highest level of support
- 29% of those not claiming INCAP or UC Health receive the highest level of support
3. State Pension Age combinations in England and Wales
State Pension Age statistics are suspended in this publication. Benefit Combinations statistics will be re-issued when the full State Pension dataset is available. Please see Total benefit claimants and Known Issues for further information.
4. Benefit Combinations in Scotland
The Scotland Act 2016 gives Scottish Parliament powers over a number of social security benefits which had been administered to Scottish clients by the Department for Work and Pensions. From 1st April 2020, executive competency for DLA, PIP, AA, SDA and IIDB transferred from DWP to Social Security Scotland, the executive agency of Scottish Government which is responsible for delivering social security benefits for Scotland. Claims continued to be administered by DWP on Social Security Scotland’s behalf during an interim transitional period.
Carer’s Allowance became the first benefit for which executive competence transferred to the Scottish Government in 2018. DWP is administering Carer’s Allowance on behalf of Scottish Ministers until the introduction of Carer’s Assistance, which will replace it. However, Social Security Scotland is delivering Carer’s Allowance Supplement for which recipients of Carer’s Allowance who are resident in Scotland are eligible. Benefit Combination statistics in this release do not include data on Carer’s Allowance Supplement.
Child Disability Payment (CDP) has been introduced in Scotland to replace DLA for those aged under 16. New claims for CDP began in certain areas of Scotland in July 2021 and for the whole of Scotland from November 2021. The process of transferring existing claimants who live in Scotland from child DLA to CDP is a gradual and automatic. It began in Autumn 2021 and was complete for over 99% of Scottish child DLA claims by September 2023.
Adult Disability Payment (ADP) has been introduced in Scotland to replace PIP and DLA for those aged between 16 and state pension age. New claims for ADP began in certain areas of Scotland in March 2022 and gradually extended to the whole of Scotland by 29 August 2022. For existing PIP and DLA claimants who live in Scotland, Social Security Scotland began to move clients to ADP from Summer 2022.
In the future, there are plans to replace AA with Pension Age Disability Payment and CA with Carer’s Assistance in Scotland.
For Benefit Combinations, this means:
- the caseload for those under the age of 16 (and in receipt of DLA as a child) in Scotland has reduced by over 99% to 200 between August 2021 and August 2023, and will continue to fall
- the caseload for Working Age adults in Scotland claiming PIP or DLA has reduced by 20% to 240,000 between August 2022 and August 2023 and will continue to fall in future releases, which will in turn affect the volumes for any combination of benefits including PIP or DLA for individuals living in Scotland
The most common benefit or combination of benefits administered by DWP claimed by Working Age (WA) individuals in Scotland is Universal Credit (UC) on its own. Of all WA claimants in August 2023:
- 46% claimed UC and no other benefit
- 17% claimed UC in combination with some other benefit(s)
Top 10 Working Age combinations of benefits administered by DWP, Scotland, August 2023
| Benefits Claimed | Thousands | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| UC In Work only | 140 | 18% |
| UC Out of Work only | 120 | 16% |
| UC No Work Requirements only | 99 | 13% |
| INCAP, PIP/DLA and Housing Benefit | 62 | 8% |
| UC No Work Requirements and PIP/DLA | 48 | 6% |
| PIP/DLA only | 44 | 6% |
| INCAP and PIP/DLA | 43 | 6% |
| UC No Work Requirements and Carer’s Allowance | 31 | 4% |
| INCAP and Housing Benefit | 27 | 4% |
| Carer’s Allowance Only | 27 | 3% |
| Any other combination | 140 | 18% |
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
State Pension Age statistics are suspended in this publication. Benefit Combinations statistics will be re-issued when the full State Pension dataset is available. Please see Total benefit claimants and Known Issues for further information.
5. Out of Work benefit combinations
Some benefits can be classified as “Out of Work” benefits meaning that these are benefits claimed by Working Age people who are not working and are in need of financial support. Out of Work benefits may be claimed for a number of reasons including unemployment, ill health or disability, or caring responsibilities for a young child. People in receipt of Carer’s Allowance are not counted as “Out of Work” since they may or may not also be in paid employment in addition to their caring responsibilities.
The following benefits are counted as “Out of Work” benefits for the purposes of benefit combinations statistics:
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – included in INCAP group
- Incapacity Benefit (IB) – included in INCAP group
- Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) – included in INCAP group
- Income Support (IS) where Carer’s Allowance (CA) not also in payment
- Pension Credit (PC) where Carer’s Allowance (CA) not also in payment
- Universal Credit Out of Work (UC OOW) where conditionality regime is one of Searching for Work, Preparing for Work or Planning for Work
- Universal Credit No Work Requirements (UC NWR) where conditionality regime is No Work Requirements
If an individual claims JSA or Universal Credit with one of the Out of Work conditionality regimes, they are generally expected to take steps towards securing work in the future as part of their benefit claim and may be sanctioned if they do not comply.
Under other circumstances the individual will not be expected to look for work – generally because they are too sick to work or because they are the main carer for a very young child.
None of the Out of Work benefits on the above list are affected by Scottish Devolution and statistics in this section are shown for Great Britain to aid understanding of the situation for the whole country. Separate figures for England & Wales and for Scotland can be obtained from Stat-Xplore.
Out of Work DWP Benefit Claimants, Great Britain, February 2013 to August 2023
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
Caution should be taken when making comparisons in the Out of Work benefits caseload over long periods of time. This is because:
- changes in the state pension age in 2010 and 2018 mean that women aged 59-65 and men aged 65 are now eligible to be included in the Out of Work benefit series when previously they would have been counted in the State Pension Age group. The use of age filters can be applied to remove this effect
- policy changes have also broadened the scope of people that can be included in the Out of Work benefits. Universal Credit applies to a broader range of people. Increases to the administrative earnings threshold (AET) mean a greater number of people in work are included in the UC Out of Work group
- data up to and including February 2015 excludes UC claims from the count of Out of Work benefits due to data on UC conditionality regime being unavailable prior to this point. However, total UC caseload in February 2015 was 38,000, which means that any undercount up to and including this date is less than 1% of the Out of Work caseload
Nevertheless, since February 2013 there have been:
- increases in the total number of Out of Work benefit claimants
- reductions in the numbers claiming “legacy” Out of Work benefits (JSA, ESA, IB, SDA or PC)
- corresponding increases in UC claims
- higher claims during the period directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
Out of Work DWP Benefit Claimants, Great Britain, August 2023
5.6 million people claimed some combination of Out of Work benefits in Great Britain in August 2023. They may claim other benefits in addition to the Out of Work benefits (such as PIP, DLA or HB).
| No Work Requirements | Thousands | Percentage of all OOW benefit claimants |
|---|---|---|
| INCAP | 1,500 | 27% |
| UC NWR, on Health Journey | 1,300 | 23% |
| UC NWR, not on Health Journey | 800 | 15% |
| Pension Credit | 21 | 0% |
| Income Support | 15 | 0% |
| Total with No Work Requirements | 3,600 | 65% |
| Some Work Requirements | Thousands | Percentage of all OOW benefit claimants |
|---|---|---|
| JSA | 100 | 1% |
| UC OOW | 1,900 | 33% |
| Total with Some Work Requirements | 1,900 | 35% |
Source: Benefit Combination Statistics to August 2023, Stat-Xplore
6. About these statistics
Changes in this release
Development work completed in February 2024 means that, for the period May 2019 – August 2023, these statistics now contain the following additional details:
- ESA payment type
- ESA phase of claim
- PIP, DLA & AA daily living award
- PIP, DLA & AA mobility award
- UC conditionality regime
- UC health journey
The Out of Work benefit group combinations have also been extended, to include Pension Credit and INCAP combinations.
As a result, new sections have been added to the release to disseminate Working Age disability and ill health combinations, and Out of Work combinations. Following the re-issue of State Pension statistics, the publication will also contain a section on State Pension Age disability and ill health combinations.
This data will continue to be updated on a quarterly basis.
Methodology
There are methodological differences between individual benefit series and the combined benefit series, which in some cases give rise to differences in the figures themselves. Further information on methodology, and detail on uses and limitations of the series can be found in the background methodology note. For official statistics on each individual benefit please see the DWP Benefits Statistics collection.
Data Quality Statement
In Spring 2023, the Chief Statistician for DWP led an internal review of all experimental official statistics produced by DWP. This is in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The review found that it was appropriate to remove the experimental label from this publication because it was concluded that the statistics are suitable and of public value. As of 15 August 2023, these statistics are now classed as ‘official statistics’.
Known Issues
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The February 2024 release is impacted by the suspension of State Pension Statistics which were also scheduled to be released on Tuesday 13 February 2024. This delay results from issues with internal processing of State Pension data after it was sent for analysis from the Get Your State Pension (GYSP) system, and only impacts statistics that are not yet published. As a result, statistics for State Pension Age claimants are not included as part of this Benefit Combinations release. Overall caseload totals are not comparable to previous quarters, as data for claimants of State Pension Age are suspended. Work is underway to remediate these issues, and the Benefit Combinations statistics will be re-issued when the full State Pension dataset is available. For more information, please see State Pension Statistics on the gov.uk website.
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During 2019, a new DWP computer system called “Get Your State Pension” (GYSP) came online to handle new State Pension claims. Temporary State Pension caseload figures were published between August 2021 and August 2023 which included an estimate of GYSP created using payment data. These figures have been withdrawn and replaced by a revised Stat-Xplore State Pension series which includes a new GYSP data feed. From February 2024, Benefit Combination State Pension data has also been revised to match State Pension Official Statistics series, using the new GYSP data.
-
Between October 2020 and July 2021, Hackney Borough Council was not able to supply any Housing Benefit (HB) data to DWP. The published HB figures for this period were therefore modified by using the last complete data return from Hackney (October 2020) as an approximation and then using other trusted data sources (such as removing cases where the claimant is claiming the housing element of Universal Credit or has died) to amend or “clean” Hackney’s data. These modified HB data were used for Benefit Combinations during this interruption period to ensure continuity. A further interruption occurred in the supply of data from Gloucester City Council starting from December 2021 onwards. The HB statistics that cover Gloucester will be derived from earlier data using the same approach that was adopted for Hackney.
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The source IIDB data used for Benefit Combination statistics shows IIDB claimants at a point five months previous to the last day of the Benefit Combinations calendar month. To adjust for this lag, data from the Customer Information System (CIS) has been used to remove cases for individuals known to have died between the IIDB time point and the Benefit Combinations time point, giving an estimate of the IIDB caseload at the Benefit Combinations time point.
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Prior to December 2022, payments for abroad cases of IIDB were managed on a separate system which was not linked to published statistics. All abroad cases were migrated to the payment system that handles the rest of the IIDB caseload in November 2022. The official IIDB caseload statistics from December 2022 published on Stat-Xplore include a complete breakdown for abroad cases. The February 2023 Benefit Combination statistics (published in August 2023) use September 2022 IIDB data, and hence do not contain all abroad cases. A direct comparison therefore cannot be carried out between the official IIDB statistics and IIDB within the Benefit Combinations statistics at this time point. At the next publication date (November 2023), Benefit Combinations source IIDB data will be from December 2022, and hence will include the complete breakdown for abroad cases and will match the official IIDB caseload statistics.
The background methodology note gives detail and impact for each of these changes.
Benefits not included in this Benefit Combinations release
- Maternity Allowance is not currently included in the series
- Current Benefit Combinations statistics do not include the HMRC administered benefits (Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Child Benefit). Since the introduction of Universal Credit in 2013, most Tax Credits are being gradually replaced by Universal Credit and so individuals who would formerly have claimed tax credits and not appeared in these statistics are now more likely to appear as Universal Credit claimants. DWP and HMRC analysts are working towards a joint annual publication of benefit combination statistics that would include Tax Credits and Child Benefit, and this is intended to be published at some point in the future
- Current Benefit Combinations statistics also do not include Scottish benefits (Carer’s Allowance Supplement, Child Disability Payment or Adult Disability Payment)
Expected future changes
At some point in the future, further devolution will affect claims from people residing in Scotland for AA, SDA, IIDB and CA. Caseloads for these benefits (and combinations including them) will reduce when they are replaced by new Scottish benefits.
Where to find out more
Read a background methodology note for more detail on derivation of Benefit Combination statistics.
Build your own data tables using Stat-Xplore.